Morgan Stanley Increases NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) Price Target to $63.00

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $51.00 to $63.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on NRG. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of NRG Energy from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NRG Energy from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of NRG Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $59.50.

NRG Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NRG Energy stock opened at $67.69 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.19 and a 200 day moving average of $49.32. The firm has a market cap of $14.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -63.26, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.11. NRG Energy has a 1 year low of $30.52 and a 1 year high of $68.57.

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. NRG Energy had a negative net margin of 0.70% and a positive return on equity of 44.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NRG Energy will post 5.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NRG Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a $0.4075 dividend. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. This is an increase from NRG Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. NRG Energy’s payout ratio is -152.34%.

Insider Transactions at NRG Energy

In other news, VP Rasesh M. Patel sold 49,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.59, for a total value of $3,072,668.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 356,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,342,251.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NRG Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Napatree Capital LLC bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter worth $277,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter worth $454,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in NRG Energy by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,396,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new stake in NRG Energy in the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Institutional investors own 97.72% of the company’s stock.

NRG Energy Company Profile

NRG Energy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy and home services company in the United States and Canada. It operates through Texas; East; West/Services/Other; Vivint Smart Home; and Corporate Activities segments. The company produces and sells electricity generated using coal, oil, solar, and battery storage; natural gas; and a cloud-based home platform, including hardware, software, sales, installation, customer service, technical support, and professional monitoring solutions.